


through the years we all will be together

by mikaylawrites



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Episode: s05e09 Abu el Banat, F/M, Light Angst, season 7, very light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28196091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikaylawrites/pseuds/mikaylawrites
Summary: “You kept those?”She doesn’t have to ask what he means. “Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”One gift, Two Christmases.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 12
Kudos: 102





	through the years we all will be together

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re like me, you’re dying to know what Josh got Donna in “Abu el Banat” - this is my take on it!

**December 7, 2006**

“You almost ready?” 

Josh looks up to find Donna standing in the doorway of his office. It’s the first time he’s seen her since leaving the apartment that morning and a warm tingle runs up his spine at the sight of her. “Hi,” he says, unable to stop the goofy grin that spreads across his face. “Give me five minutes.”

She drops into the chair across from him. Her cheeks are still pink from the cold, her hair a little windblown; she and Mrs. Santos had only just finished meeting with designers about a gown for the inaugural balls. He studies her for a long moment before turning back to his computer. “Tell me about your day,” he prompts, wanting to hear the sound of her voice.

While Donna launches into a full synopsis of Mrs. Santos’ wardrobe choices, he types up his last few emails of the day. It feels familiar, sitting in his office, listening to her talk about things that are only of interest to him because they’re important to her. He’s missed their easy companionship more than anything else. So much of their new relationship still feels shiny, but this part is well-worn in the best way possible. 

“I never thought that when I entered public service I’d be helping the First Lady decide which fabric goes best with her skin tone, but it was kind of fun. It feels like I’m using a different set of skills.” 

“I’d always assumed you had an eye for fashion, seeing as you’ve been on me about my ugly ties for years,” he replies, glancing up at her. 

She laughs at that, her head tilting slightly so that some of her hair falls behind her shoulder. It’s then that he sees them. He stops typing mid-sentence, momentarily transfixed. Donna senses the shift in his demeanor, her brow scrunching. “What?” 

“You kept those?” 

She doesn’t have to ask what he means. “Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I guess I thought...I’m just really glad you still have them.”

**December 23, 2003**

Donna comes back from the bathroom to find a small package on her desk, neatly wrapped in brown paper. She picks it up and shakes it gently. There’s a little movement, but not enough to indicate what’s inside.

“Josh?” She wanders into his office and finds him at his desk. He’s got his nose buried in a memo on the Minnesota seventh, sitting with a rehearsed nonchalance that tells her he’s been patiently waiting for her to come to him. When he looks up at her, he’s trying and failing to bite back a shit-eating grin.

“What can I do for you?” he asks, setting the memo down.

She holds up the package. “Do you happen to know anything about this?”

“Hmm.” He clasps his hands together on the desk, leaning forward slightly. “Now where did you find that?”

“It was on my desk.”

“Hmm,” he says again, and she’d be exasperated by his antics if she wasn’t so excited to find out what’s in the package. “So you found an expertly wrapped package on your desk, the day before the Christmas vacation. Might we assume it’s a Christmas gift?”

“I suppose we might. But without a name on it, how will we ever know who it’s from?”

“Maybe if you open it we can get a glimpse into the mind of whatever basket case would leave an unmarked package on the desk of a government employee in the most heavily-guarded building in America.”

Donna rolls her eyes but begins unwrapping the package anyway. The paper gives way to a nondescript box that opens to reveal a smaller, velvet box that she knows holds jewelry. She schools her face to hide her surprise and opens the second box. Inside are a pair of silver teardrop earrings with pale turquoise stones. She wouldn’t have necessarily picked them for herself, but they’re beautiful. They’re also definitely not the kind of gift most bosses would buy their assistant. Her eyes flit to Josh, who had at some point stood from his desk and taken a step toward her. 

He’s watching her nervously. “I can take them back, if you don’t like them,” he says quickly, all the bravado gone from his voice. “I just saw them and they reminded me of your...they reminded me of you.”

At that moment, with his expression completely unguarded and his eyes searching hers, he’s not Joshua Lyman, Deputy Chief of Staff; he’s Josh, her dear friend who has probably spent the last month ruminating on whether she would like her gift. Donna sets the earrings down on the desk and throws her arms around him. 

“I love them,” she assures him. “Thank you.” He doesn’t respond; he doesn’t need to. The way he squeezes her and rubs his cheek against her hair says more than either of them ever will.

For a second she wonders if this will be the night that something happens. This thing they’ve been dancing around for years is balancing precariously on the edge and it would be so easy to give it the nudge it needs to send them both into a freefall. But she knows how this night will end: they’ll linger a little longer than necessary in the office, or they’ll go to the Hawk and Dove for a drink and spend a little too long saying goodnight, and he’ll put her in a cab and she’ll go back to her apartment to stare at the ceiling in the dark and pretend she doesn’t notice the way her heart is pounding. And when she wears the earrings on Christmas day her mother will ask where they’re from and Donna will say they were a gift from a guy she’s seeing, and she won’t feel bad for lying because on nights like tonight it doesn’t feel that far from the truth.

**December 7, 2006**

“Did you think I’d get rid of them?” Donna’s head is cocked to the side and she’s smiling, but he sees a slight trepidation in her eyes. There are several questions hidden in this one and he’s not sure which to answer. 

He pauses, considers, before truthfully responding “no.” Because this is Donna: Donna who nearly cried when he gave her a book about skiing, Donna who could never hold anything at arm’s length. Of course she kept the earrings.

Her smile is a little more sure as she gets up and comes around the desk to stand beside him. He wraps his arms around her middle, leaning into her. She gets a hand in his hair and massages his scalp lightly. They’re quiet. Over the past month they’ve had several conversations about their relationship, but this moment now doesn’t feel like it needs words. 

It’s Donna who breaks the silence. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late” she says, patting his back and walking toward the door. 

“Do we have to go?” he asks for no other reason than to rile her up. “How many times do I have to stand in the freezing cold to watch them light up a tree?” 

“First of all, it’s thirty-four degrees outside, which doesn’t qualify as freezing. Second of all, while you may think you’ve seen it all, you’ve yet to experience the Donna Moss private warming up party that occurs after the ceremony.” 

“I like the sound of that.” 

Josh lets Donna help him into his coat and hand him his backpack. Before she can make it to the door, he takes her by the shoulders and kisses her, hard, like he should’ve done three years ago. Their noses bump together and he’s running his hands down her arms and when she threads her fingers through his he is grateful for so many things but above all he is just really, really glad that she kept the earrings.


End file.
